Want more Access, Content & Connections?

Chipotle Paints Bleak Portrait of Big Food in Short Film and Game

'The Scarecrow' Depicts World in Which 'Crowbots' Oversee Food Industry

Published on September 12, 2013.

Following up on the success of their 2012 Cannes Grand Prix winner "Back To The Start," Chipotle and CAA Marketing have released a short film that takes an ultra-critical look at Big Food in order to highlight its own sustainably-sourced ethos. The film is accompanied by an interactive game.

The film was created by Moonbot Studios (whose work includes the Oscar-winning "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore)". Set to a haunting cover of the song "Pure Imagination" (from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory") performed by Fiona Apple, it revolves around a sad-looking scarecrow who lives in a scary, somewhat Tim Burton-esque world in which the food industry is dominated by the evil Crow Foods. This is a world in which food is labelled as "100 per cent beef-ish," chickens are injected with goop and unhappy cows are milked by machines, while sinister robotic crows fly around threateningly. The scarecrow, who initially works for Crow Foods, eventually picks a fresh pepper off a bush and starts off on a mission to collect fresh food, ultimately opening a burrito stand. The film culminates in the line "cultivate a better world," with Chipotle branding only appearing at the very end.

The downloadable game, for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, will feature the same characters. Players fly through the city of Plenty to transport confined animals to open pastures, fill fields with crops at Scarecrow Farms, and serve wholesome food to people at PlentyFull Plaza, while avoiding the menacing Crowbots. Chipotle will be giving away up to one million buy-one-get-one free offers to consumers who successfully play it.